A Thousand Miles
by Willow Maiden
Summary: She was supposed to be a still, crystal statue deep in the snow. A secret between me and Aerith. Not a living, breathing teenager from another planet with a constant smile on her face and a sadness deep in her eyes.
1. Chapter 1

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VII or Final Fantasy XIII. I wouldn't be here, would I? XD**_

**After seeing a couple of photos, CloudVanille has seriously become my otp in a matter of two days. Cloud being Cloud, the romance between the him and Vanille in my story won't be immediate. **

**This takes place after the plot of FFXIII and after Advent Children but before Dirge of Cerberus.  
><strong>

**I hope you enjoy this. Reviews are appreciated.**

* * *

><p><em>...Fang, I remember.<em>

_I remember what you told me on the great plains of Gran Pulse, our home._

_We were sitting in the grass, just outside the village of Oerba. _

_I noticed you were staring into space, but you were actually staring at the mountains. Weren't you?_

_'Distance is annoying.' You said it out of the blue. At first, I was confused..._

_You told me what you meant._

_'It separates family, lovers, friends...' _

_But I still didn't understand. I was right there next you, our legs touching. And our families were only a couple of feet away. Distance didn't keep us apart.  
><em>

_I had a confused smile on my face, hoping you'd continue to elaborate._

_You didn't._

_Did you know...that we were going to get separated? That distance was going to stand between us once we became Pulse l'Cie? Even when we reunited?  
><em>

_You always seem to know things I could never know myself._

_Was I jealous?_

_Yeah. I was..._

_...Fang, I remember something else._

_When you said I'll meet someone that will complete me. I always thought it was you. You made me happy._

_But I found someone..._

_He took care of me._

_He made me smile._

_He took away the guilt._

_And even when we were separated, I still felt him close to me. To my heart.  
><em>

_And I will forever be grateful._

_I really miss you Fang. You'd love him if you met him._

_I certainly know I do._

**...**

Cloud looked at the wide space covered in a blanket of pure white snow. His mako eyes lazily blinking, making it seem as if he were day dreaming.

He sighed for the what seems like the tenth time in the past hour. He'd been looking for any signs of something colliding to the Planet.

There was absolutely nothing. It almost seemed as if that bright light was his imagination. He scoffed. Too bad half the world saw it, or he wouldn't have even bothered. He **would** be in his room, enjoying the warmth.

There weren't any deliveries because of the snow storm. Thankfully it had softened after he was instructed by Rufus to find out what the hell everyone had seen.

He had thanked every higher power he could think of when he noticed there was a disturbance in the snow, not that far away. It was blue and shiny. A blur, but it was there. He was surprised at himself that he did not see it before. He mounted Fenrir and hoped that the object was nothing but a harmless space rock.

**_You'll be surprised at what you'll find._**

Normally, Cloud would have been caught off guard by Aerith's voice. The first time she spoke to him, he ended up walking straight into a door. She had been apologizing for weeks about his broken nose, even when the mako in his body had already healed it. But lately, she had been speaking to him more often. In riddles mostly. She was frustrating him, but his patience did not thin.

"Everything that involves you lately is a surprise." He snorted as he began to near the mysterious object, the blur becoming more defined. His answer from the deceased Ancient was a chuckle.

_**Pay** **attention.**_

He thought of replying with a smart ass answer but kept his mouth shut when he noticed that the mysterious object was-

"A statue?" He raised an eyebrow as he slowed down and skidded Fenrir to a halt. Aerith was silent, so Cloud decided to figure this out by himself. The Chocobo haired hero climbed off his beloved motorcycle. He patted snow off his shoulder as he neared the strange statue. It was that of a woman. She had pig tails, and there was a clear smile on her face. Crystals surrounding her like ribbons were the same color as her.

"This came out of the sky?" He voiced his confusion. Aerith remained silent. He sighed and neared closer to the blue statue. He began to rub off some snow that covered her lower half. She appeared to be sitting on thin air. He rubbed the back of his neck, clueless on what to say to Rufus.

'_The bright light was a statue. Can you believe it?_' He rolled his eyes. The Shinra President would most likely send him back into the snow, but with Reno and Rude to accompany him. '_Waste of time sending me if you don't trust me.'_

He touched the arm of the statue, ignoring the tingly feeling he felt through his gloves. "Maybe I should lie and say it was a dragon." A snort.

**_Don't tell him about her._**

He picked up a small tone of worry in her voice, and could not help but raise a blond eyebrow. "What can I tell him?"

_**You didn't find anything.**_

"As if he'd believe me."

**_The snow is pretty deep. _**

"He'll tell me to use fire materia."

_**You are absolutely stubborn!**_

Cloud couldn't help but laugh quietly.

_**Just think up anything! Please don't let Rufus or anyone else find her.**_

Cloud couldn't help but give in at the sound of distress in her gentle voice. "Alright, alright. As long as you tell me later as to how a statue came from space."

She didn't answer. The ex-cadet frustratedly ran a hand through his spiky hair. He gave one last glance at the statue before mounting Fenrir once more.

"You owe me, Aerith."

**_I know..._**

* * *

><p><strong>And that's the end of Chapter One. :D Thank you for reading. (: I'll try to update as soon as possible if it is demanded.<em><br>_**


	2. Chapter 2

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VII or Final Fantasy XIII.**_

**SORRY FOR THE LONG WAIT. *Bashes head against wall* My Desktop decides to die on me while I was beginning to type this chapter. I have rotten luck. But as an apology, I made this chapter long and hopefully to your liking :D**

* * *

><p>Cloud remained pokerface as the son of the late President Shinra looked at him with a stare that would have Cid stop cursing for a <em>week<em>. The Chocobo haired man repeated his story over and over in his mind, looking for any piece of error that Rufus would have picked up.

He was thankful that he was able to keep a straight face, since he could practically sense that Reno and Rude were behind him, ready to beat him up if their precious leader commanded it.

'_Am I really that bad of a liar?' _He inwardly groaned.

_**Don't give up now!**_

Cloud almost flinched at the sound of Aerith's voice, louder than what he was used to.

**..Sorry.**

The Ancient's friend gave a mental grunt as a sign of forgiveness as he kept his mako eyes focused on the man in front of him.

_**Don't wo-**_

"Are you absolutely positive that you found _nothing_ at all?" The coldness in Rufus's voice made the snow storm outside seem like a drought.

"I found nothing." Cloud's voice was equally as cold. Rufus's growl of annoyance was heard through the room, accompanied with his fist banging on the desk he sat behind.

The last of the Shinra line sighed as he ran a hand through his neatly styled hair.

"I'm not trying to pick a fight with you, Cloud," He paused as Cloud snorted. "I just want to know what that light was."

_**He thinks it might be an alien like Jenova.**_

"You think it might be another Jenova." He and Aerith spoke at the same time, though it was obvious that Rufus did not hear the deceased Ancient.

Cloud crossed his arms when Rufus remained silent.

"So I'm ri-"

"I didn't say that." The ex-President of Shinra cut him off.

"But you're thinking it." The blond pointed out.

"That light could be anything. An ally, or a threat." Rufus reasoned.

"Don't you think an alien landing on the Planet would be more than a flash of light?" Cloud argued.

Rufus couldn't help but bite his lip in irritation, "I'm only taking precautions. It hasn't been that long since Sephiroth came back, you know that. Anything can happen."

Now it was Cloud's turn to be silent. Rufus smiled, knowing that he had won this battle for now.

"Check again," Cloud grumbled at the order and turned around to leave. "and bring some fire materia will you."

_'Told you_.' His answer was a sigh from the girl in his mind.

**...**

_I sat in a meadow covered with daises, and tulips. The world around me was bright, but not bright enough to harm me._

_I had been here for what seems like months. I really haven't kept a track of time.  
><em>

_At first, when I appeared here, I thought that this was where l'Cie went after truly completing their focus. But there was one problem: I was the **only** one here._

_But yesterday was the day I knew that I wasn't going to be in a Crystal Sleep any longer._

_I met a girl that looked perhaps one or two years older than myself, she wore a pink dress and brown boots. She had manifested out of nowhere, making me choke on the water I was drinking._

_You know what she said? "You're not the first one." And she introduced herself. Aerith. Such a nice name.  
><em>

_I couldn't help but giggle as I recalled the encounter. At first I was slightly confused, until the woman explained to me that her friend had walked into a door because of her._

_But now, I'm alone, waiting for the 'knight' that Aerith said would come for me.  
><em>

_Who knows? I wonder if it's Snow. A 'hero' can be a 'knight'...Right? But then again it would be slightly strange for Snow to come for **me** when he's most likely busy with Serah. I wonder if they got married. About time if I do say so myself.  
><em>

_How about Hope..? I can picture it now, his boomerang flying through the meadow..._

_And then it casually hits me on the head._

_My laughter brings sound to the silent meadow. It does get really lonely here. I hope the knight would hurry up already. A damsel in distress doesn't like to be kept waiting._

_Even though I'm not in distress._

_"I should stop thinking so much." I say aloud, looking up at the bright blue sky that has never been touched by a single cloud._

_**It's what you and him have in common.**_

_I practically jump into a tree at the sound of Aerith's voice, "It's not nice to startle someone...again!" I'm only met with laughter._

_"Who's this...him?"_

_**Your knight.**_

_"It's kind of strange saying that to me. I don't really **need** a knight."_

_**You do. You just don't want to admit it.**_

_I huff with a pout forming at my lips._

_**Don't be that way. You'll like him, I promise.**_

_"You make him sound like he saved the entire universe."_

_**He did.**_

_I raise an eyebrow and tilt my head to the side, "Mind filling me in?"_

_**Get comfortable.**_

**...**

Cloud sighed as he sat in front of the statue, who Aerith kindly told him that her name was Vanille, which he considered to be a weird name. He had been studying her more closely for about thirty minutes. She obviously didn't look menacing enough to be a second Jenova.

But looks don't give away what's going on in the inside. He sighed again, a bit more louder and reached out to touch the glowing statue. Aerith has been completely silent after he got what seemed like a bolt3 after accidentally tripping onto Vanille.

He didn't see the rock he tripped over and ended up with half his body clinging to Vanille. What he didn't expect was the feeling of thunder smack right into his body. He wasn't going to lie that he still feels the tingling sensations, and he was definitely surprised to see that his skin wasn't smelling like burnt food.

His suspicions were that under the crystals, there was an immense power. But it did not frighten him, like when he felt Jenova's power in the Shinra building. Yet it still made him cautious, even though he wanted to touch her again.

He placed his left gloved hand on Vanille's arm. Almost immediately did he feel the raw energy seeping through his black glove. He grew bold and placed his other hand on her arm. The blond almost flinched when it felt like his hands were being pinched.

"What is up with this statue?" He frowned, but made no indication that he was going to move his hands.

_**If I didn't know better, it would seem as if you were about to break her arm off. Loosen your grip a little.**_

The ex-Shinra Guard obeyed the Ancient and closed his eyes, "I hate it when you keep secrets from me."

**_I hate it when you try to make me feel guilty._**

"I'm not _trying_ to make you feel guilty. I'm simply stating the truth." A snort.

**_Just have a little patience. You'll like the outcome. I promise._**

"Last time I tried to be patient, you ended up getting stabbed by Sephiroth. I just hope Vanille here doesn't turn into some huge cyclops." He grimaced.

Despite Cloud mentioning her death, Aerith seemed to be amused. **_Vanille won't turn into a monster..._**

Cloud heard the mysterious tone in her voice and felt annoyance creeping through him, "Let me guess, she'll probably turn into a cannibal _mountain_." Cloud felt the corners of his lips rise as he heard her bell-like laughter in his mind. It brought him joy to hear her laugh again.

_**She won't become a cannibal. Or a mountain.**_

"A fish? That would be interesting." He could practically feel her rolling her eyes.

**_You speak of her as if she were an enemy, yet you touch her as if she were a dear friend._**

Cloud's eyes widened when he noticed that his hands were no longer on her arm. They were clasped around her left hand.

"I didn-"

**_It's okay, Cloud. Don't deny the fact that you feel a connection somewhere deep inside the statue._**

"I don't feel a connection. It's nothing." He stood up and moved away from Vanille.

_**Dilly dally shilly shally.**_

"Don't use that on me." The blond frowned.

_**Dilly dally shilly shally.**_

He groaned and covered his eyes with his right hand, "Okay, okay. Jeez."

He was met with complete silence. But he knew better.

**...**

_I'm not going to lie at the fact that this Cloud is cute._ _But it's his eyes that I really like. His rich blue eyes looked as if they were glowing. Very nice to look at._

_But could he really be a 'knight', who can supposedly take me out of my Crystal Sleep? I completed my focus. There is nothing left for me to do._

_ Why is he so important? Important enough to get me separated from Fang._

_Again._

_He can feel my l'Cie power through the statue, okay, but what does that have to do with anything? I think Snow touched Serah once...but he didn't say anything out of the ordinary._

_I'm practically chewing my lip off. This isn't healthy. I touched my left hand when he did. I didn't feel him, but it was like I knew he was here by my side. I feel hope locked up tight in my chest, as if I wanted him to be the reason for what could possibly mean a new adventure._

_But he was of a world far, far away from Gran Pulse._

_Far from Fang._

_Hope._

_Lightning._

_Sazh._

_Snow._

_Serah._

_Everyone._

_I wonder if they noticed I disappeared. Hope would have a fit. Lightning would of course act calm and collected, but demand answers the minute she was given the chance. Snow and Serah would think of a logical reason, believing that I woke up from my sleep, but ended up going to a different part of Pulse. Sazh would volunteer to go on an airship and look for me. Pops is really sweet._

_I sigh and look away from the blond face in the water. As much of a hero he is, he isn't my family. I don't love him. I don't know him. And I certainly don't need him._

_So why am I contradicting myself?_

_**You know that you have to stop denying Fate.**  
><em>

* * *

><p><strong>Thank you for reading! (: Please review.<em><br>_**


End file.
